Criteria 1. How bad the play was itself 2. How much it cost the team (the game/season) 3. The play being so bad it was named With the aforementioned criteria, lets being (epic voice) The Top 10 Worst Plays in NFL History! #10 Dwayne Rudd Throws His Helmet [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOfUBG0pKjk]Dwayne Rudd takes off helmet & loses game - YouTube[/ame] Trailing 39-37, the Kansas City Chiefs had one last chance to win the game, and Dwayne Rudd comes in huge with a sack. Wait, he pitched it to the lineman, and the play isn't over. The lineman runs for his life not even thinking about giving anyone else a lateral as he is pushed out 35 yards short of the touchdown, game over. That would have been the case, if Rudd didn't remove his helmet and throw it 20 yards in the middle of the play. With 0.00 seconds on the clock the Chiefs send in Morton Anderson to nail the game winning field goal, 40-38. I almost feel bad putting this one as #10. Rudd thought he got the sack, which in turn would have made his helmet toss not a penalty. It was still a bonehead move and cost his team the game. Although they still made the playoffs this year, so it wasn't catastrophic. #9 The River City Relay [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTGco82JKHo]John Carney Missed extra point - YouTube[/ame] (sorry for the bad watermark) Trailing 20-13 with 7 seconds left, The New Orleans Saints needed a win to make the playoffs. The plan was simple, get the ball into the end zone. Aaron Brooks drops back and hits Donte Stallworth, who makes a very beautiful move and breaks two tackles. Stallworth then runs for about 16 yards before pitching it to Michael Lewis. Lewis then runs for about 6 yards, before handing it to Deuce McAllister who then makes an amazing pass while being leveled to Jerome Pathon. Pathon gets into the endzone for the amazing last second touchdown to tiAWWW he missed the extra point. Saints lose... Again. This play is the actual reason that I started to like the New Orleans Saints. From Boston, this year was very boring to watch Patriot games. I was looking for some team to start to do something exciting and revive my love for football, and this happened. The most amazing play I have ever seen, followed by the worst shank I have ever seen (and I was at the 2011 AFC championship game.) #8 It's Leon Lett. Nooooooooooo [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrU8z4w8T-4]1993 - Dolphins @ Cowboys - Leon Lett Opps - YouTube[/ame] Trailing 14-13, the Miami Dolphins had a chance to kick a potential game winning field goal as time was very close to expiring. Snap was good, hold was good, kick is up and blocked. Now the ball lays on the ground and the Cowboys are sure to win this one. Players all stand around waving their hands. Do not touch it, do not touch it, then out of nowhere in comes Leon Lett comes in with the baseball slide right into the ball. Not sure what he was thinking, maybe about stealing second base. There really isn't much more to say about this one, the game was won, and then Leon Lett kicked the ball down to the 1 yard line. The Dolphins hit the chip shot and won it 16-14. #7 Gary Anderson's Miss [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-3DDFGvnII"]NFL Top 10 Foul-Ups: Gary Anderson's Miss - YouTube[/ame] Tied 27-27, Gary Anderson had a chance to send the Vikings to the Superbowl. If there was any kicker in the world you could choose at this point in time, it was Gary Anderson. From 39 yards Anderson lined up perfect this season, and didn't miss a field goal for almost two years. The Vikings were a super-team, they were favored to win the Super Bowl. 46 consecutive and the 1st perfect season for a kicker, Anderson missed wide left sending the game to overtime. This kick will always be cemented in Anderson's legacy as the Atlanta Falcons won the game in overtime with a field goal. #6 The Redskins Rocket Screen [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fkE7OVc8Rw]Squirek - YouTube[/ame] Down 14-3 12 seconds before the half, Joe Theismann has no business throwing the ball at all. Should have taken a knee, and went into the 2nd half. Instead Joe Gibbs wanted to be greedy, and called a play that previously worked for a large gain against the Raiders. Not this time, Jack Squirek thought as he jumped the pass as much as you could for an easy touchdown. I honestly don't understand multiple things on this play. How could you call a play throwing the ball across the field on the 5 yard line? Even if this was caught he would have been tackled for probably a loss. The Redskins went into the half down 21-3, and showed no life losing 38-9. #5 Garo's Goof [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh45VfGFRiU]Garo's Goof 1972 Superbowl - YouTube[/ame] 1973 Super Bowl(1972 season,) Dolphins and Redskins. This one is probably the funniest one on the list. Garo Yepremian kicked the ball off his own offensive lineman's helmet. Then in a sad attempt to be a quarterback for one play, Yepremian threw a pass that would make a 5 year old girl look good. On top of the worst pass in human history, Yepremian then failed at catching his own pass, batted the ball into the air to the other team, giving up a touchdown. Only thing that stops this one from being higher on the list is the fact the Undefeated Dolphins won that game. The Redskins didn't score any more points, 14-7 final. #4 Leon's Lettdown [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTeqQY_T2mE]Leon Lett Super Bowl XXVII - YouTube[/ame] Some of us like to pretend. Some of us like to pretend inside the game itself. Some of us are defensive linemen who shouldn't fool around in the Super Bowl trying to pretend to be Michael Irvin. Leon wanted to do the classic Irvin put the ball over the line pre-touchdown celebration, but when you are a lineman you can't do the same things as hall of fame receivers. The ball was fumbled and the big man picked it up in stride to run it back easily. Showboating too soon, Don Beebe caught the big man and made him pay big time forcing a fumble for a touchback. If Lett scored this touchdown, the Cowboys would have had the record for most points in the Super Bowl. They still won 52-17 so it really didn't matter much. #3 The Miracle At The Meadowlands [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lysQ8xt_Css]Miracle at the Meadowlands - YouTube[/ame] Easily able to knee the clock out, Ron "Jaws" Jaworski just threw his 3rd interception of the game and the Giants were heading to sure victory. Joe Pisarcik took the field looking to take a few knees and run out the clock. Pisarcik his 1st knee no problem. Then a running play to Larry Csonka up the middle for 11 yards (No harm no foul.) With the credits rolling on CBS, Pisarcik ran the same play again. The problem with this is not only did he not get the handoff clean to Csonka, he fumbled the ball to Herm "you play to win the game" Edwards. Herm did exactly that returning the fumble 26 yards to the endzone. Bob Gibson had no business calling 2 running plays, he had no business calling 1. He was immediately fired after the game and hasn't coached since. Eagles won 19-17 and Giants fans remember that play as the lowest point in franchise history. #2 Jim Marshall's Wrong Way Run [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eBrb00pdGw]Jim Marshall's Wrong Way Run in 1964 - YouTube[/ame] There was a pass completed at the 30 yard line of the opposing team, the 49ers. The Ball was stripped and Marshall recovered it, and didn't want just a recovery. Marshall had touchdown in his eyes, attempting to cement his legacy as the fumble recovery king with a nice touchdown. Upon scoring he realized he didn't earn 6 for his team, he earned 2 for the other team. Marshall ran 66 yards the wrong way for a safety. This one is just horrible. Jim Marshall is an all-time great. The man was a 4th round pick, started 270 straight games, and recovered 30 fumbles. This play also gives him the record for shortest play in NFL history (-66 yards.) The 49ers were actually blocking for Marshall on this one. This play is number 2 solely for how stupid it was. This one is just sad in my eyes though. It's almost more horrible that they won this game. #1 The Butt-Fumble [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAp57G1hLn0]Sanchez butt fumble with enhanced audio - YouTube[/ame] I still laugh every time watching it. This video sums up the Jets franchise currently, and I am glad Mark Sanchez lost his starting job. Already trailing the Patriots 14-0, Sanchez turned the wrong way for a fullback dive, which blew the play up. Improving Sanchez did what we are all taught to do, run through the hole they are blocking for. The hole he ended up running into wasn't the 2 hole. Not losing his footing at all(I checked like 40 times) Sanchez ran Helmet first into his offensive lineman's butt. The impact of the the butt to his face forced a fumble, which was recovered for a Patriots touchdown. This play has been so bad, that it set the record for most consecutive weeks as not top 10 worst of the worst. Jets fans are actually trying to get the video taking down because it is so bad. This play had everything that symbolizes a horrible play. It sums up the Jets season, it sums up Mark Sanchez, it earned it's spot on my list as a solid pick as number 1. The Jets lost the game 49-19. Wrapping it up. Thanks for all the feedback, positive and negative. I write for you guys, and I consider all of the comments and suggestions to improve for you all. Give a Thumbs up and tell me what you want to see next week, what you would change on the list (if anything,) and anything you would like me to improve on.
Funny that Lett is on this list twice. But I disagree based on your criteria at the top that the Beebe touchback was as high as it is since the Cowboys still blew them out that game
Yeah I agree that the other play of his actually ruined a game for Dallas, his showboating was still funny as hell when this dude ran him down across the whole field just to knock the ball away at the last second. Priceless lol.
I Thought the Eagles"new miracle at the new meadowlands"with sean jackson returning the last play of the game punt back for a td should have been on the list.
Great research and a fun topic. Just a riot that kickers are goats when they miss one and never given airtime when they kick a game winner.
What about Gus Frerotte head into the wall? Maybe that's 10 Worst Celebrations. Nevermind. Add the Gramatica celebration to that too. There...I did 1/5 of the work for you.
there was a kid that plays for Georgia that tore his acl after celebrating another player's touchdown against Clemson Saturday night.It is safe to assume I guess that he ain't majoring in rocket science isn't it?
Aaron Brooks backwards pass would have been 11th or 12th on the list. Deuce was quick to get back and get that pass, so it could have been much worse.
